Con: Results can vary depending on how much fluid you drink. By drinking more water, you dilute the concentration of ketones in the urine and thus a lower level of ketones will be detected on the strips. The strips don’t show a precise ketone level. Finally, and most importantly, as you become increasingly keto-adapted and your body reabsorbs ketones from the urine, urine strips may become unreliable, even if you’re in ketosis.
But all those studies were very small, and not all research on the keto diet is as promising. One American Society for Clinical Nutrition study of 20 participants found that those on the diet didn’t lose more weight than those on a non-keto diet. But they did have fouler moods and higher levels of inflammation, which has been linked to a variety of conditions, including heart disease and cancer.

Unfortunately, there’s no long-term data on ketogenic diets versus other diets. In a 2015 Italian study, those on a ketosis diet lost 26 pounds in three months. About half of the participants stayed on the diet for a year but lost little additional weight in the next nine months. People in a 2014 Spanish study who followed a very-low-calorie ketogenic diet lost an average of 44 pounds in a year—but a third of them dropped out, possibly because it was too hard to maintain.

The keto diet isn’t new, and it’s been around for nearly a century. It was originally developed to treat people with epilepsy. In the 1920s, researchers found that raised levels of ketones in the blood led to fewer epileptic seizures in patients. The keto diet is still used today to treat children with epilepsy who don’t respond well to anti-epileptic drugs.[2]

And by pink salt I mean pink Himalayan mineral salt. I sprinkle this stuff on everything! On my food, in my water – you name it, pink salt is in it. Not only does it make my food taste AMAZING, but the benefits of pink salt are insane, especially when it comes to Keto flu. Pink Himalayan salt contains up to 84 different minerals, a fantastic source of magnesium (almost 80% of people are deficient in!), promotes a healthy PH balance, helps regulate blood sugar levels (this is huge for Keto and staying in ketosis), and helps regulate the body’s natural sleep cycle.
For a period of 3-4 days up to 2 weeks, you will be eating the minimal amount of carbohydrates and sugar (20 grams net carbs maximum per day). After this you may be able to add in small amounts of net carbs if your body can handle it, but probably not more than 50 net carbs total per day. This is tricky, because some people can't handle more than the 20 net carbs even after they have adjusted to ketosis. Others can handle 50 net carbs and easily stay in ketosis. If you feel fine at 20 net carbs and it doesn't bother you, than there's no reason to make any changes. You can test your ketosis by how you feel, or by actually testing - which is discussed in section 3.

When it comes to weight loss — a big possible draw of the plan for many individuals — the benefits of the ketogenic diet may not be much different from any other diet plan. “There is no magical weight loss benefit that can be achieved from this diet,” says Spano. “The ketogenic diet may help weight loss in the same way other diets help — by restricting food choices so you eat fewer calories.”

Bulk buy and cook. If you’re someone who doesn’t like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, this is the best of both worlds. Buying your food at bulk (specifically from wholesalers) can reduce the cost per pound tremendously. Plus, you can make ahead food (bulk cook chicken thighs for pre-made meat, or cook entire meals) that are used as leftovers, so you spend less time cooking.
The ketogenic diet works by eliminating carbohydrates from the diet and keeping the body’s carbohydrate stores almost empty, therefore preventing too much insulin from being released following food consumption and creating normal blood sugar levels. This can help reverse “insulin resistance,” which is the underlying problem contributing to diabetes symptoms. In studies, low-carb diets have shown benefits for improving blood pressure, postprandial glycemia and insulin secretion. (7) Therefore, diabetics on insulin should contact their medical provider prior to starting a ketogenic diet, however, as insulin dosages may need to be adjusted.

It’s not for me, but it interesting to learn these things, and of course there seem to be good reasons for doing it for some people. I’m happy with the “eat less, exercise more” diet for now, but I might try out intermittent fasting since I’ve seen a few things suggesting it might help with allergies? I doubt that’s well supported, but I’ve liked what you’ve had to say about it, so since it’s not a thing I have to spend money on to try out, might as well, right?

I’m honestly a little skeptical about it the idea of keto permanently. My brief glance at the literature seems to imply that it can have side effects of kidney stones, skeletal fractures, and slow the growth rate of children, but that was a study on kids with epilepsy (which it treated very effectively), so who knows how that applies to adults. And the other studies I found dealt with overweight and obese subjects, so it may be hard to find something on the long term effects on otherwise healthy adults.

I will admit to appeal to authority here. This was said by the professor of the course I mentioned in my previous post, but it was also confirmed by many of my classmates, whom, at this point(for reasons, which are too tedious and long winded to extrapolate on atm), I consider smart enough to know their business, that I choose to believe them. All of them. If nothing else, the professor himself is,well… authority on his field.

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Medical Disclaimer: The material on this site is provided for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program.